May 13th, 2012 ‚Äď Union FFA Chapter members were recognized for their accomplishments recently at the annual parent/member banquet held at the school May 3rd.¬†¬†Many of the students who are in the agriculture science and shop classes are participating members of the FFA, which is an organization dedicated to preparing young people for careers in agriculture and advocates self-discipline and dedication through supervised experience programs.

¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†Opening ceremonies were conducted by the present officer team consisting of:¬†¬†President Cody Vanderzanden, Vice President Shikira Yeager, Treasurer Celena Hefner, Secretary Emma Stockhoff, Reporter¬†¬†Bayly Poor, Sentinel Madeline Martens, historian Emily Stone and Junior Advisor Kaleb Poor.¬†¬†Many notable guests and friends of the FFA were present and we welcomed to the banquet Jon St.Germaine our district superientendent and Carter Wells our High School Principal.¬†¬†Many district teachers were also in attendance.¬†¬†Those also in attendance included many of the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Board, several visiting chapters, local business owners, former members and friends of the FFA, parents and members.¬†¬†¬†The State FFA Convention Star Spangled Banner video was played to start the evening and it showed many of the FFA students in Oregon FFA who are risking their lives in harm‚Äôs way for our freedom.¬†¬†Duane Stone gave the invocation and dinner followed.¬†¬†We served a free pit barbecued beef buffet supper prepared by Union students and school district kitchen staff (Lavonne Baremore, July Thurston, and Adina Ferguson. Emma Stockhoff prepared a slideshow of this years FFA activities. A formal meeting was held with all officers participating at their stations, and awards and medals were then presented.

Mr. Clark¬†¬†¬†introduced the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show Board and had the students that have animals for EOLS to stand up to be recognized.¬†¬†Courtney Rynearson is running for EOLS Queen and as part of the queen competition she is selling tickets to this year‚Äôs rodeo.¬†¬†The Eastern Oregon Livestock Show FFA and 4-H auction bring in over to $200,000 dollars each year much of this money help support the kids going to college.¬†¬†It is the biggest local scholarship program in the area and Courtney wanted to let people know that it is a volunteer organization.¬†¬†People who would like to get involved and have fun at the same time are welcome to attend stockshow meetings that are held in the EOLS clubhouse on the second Tuesday of each month and each Tuesday of May at 7:30 pm.¬†¬†She is also asking people to contact her if they need tickets to this year‚Äôs show.¬†¬†It takes her a lot of time and effort, but ticket sales help to keep the show alive.¬†¬†If you buy your tickets early you can take advantage of a great savings.¬†¬†EOLS is the ‚ÄúOldest show in the Northwest‚ÄĚ and Union is proud to host it each year.¬†¬†Contact Courtney for tickets and help her to be our EOLS Queen!(541 805-5725)

The Union FFA Chapter Advisor, Dennis Clark, presented new State FFA Degree Recipients: Braxton Anderson, Emily Stone, Dani Sturm, Shikira Yeager, Kaleb Poor and Cody Vanderzanden with their Oregon State FFA Degree pins.¬†¬†Celena Hefner, Nicole Roberts, Cody, Emma Stockhoff, and Katherine Hammond were the last years‚Äô recipients.¬†¬†Te Oregon State FFA Degree is the highest award given on the state level.

¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†¬†Brooke Roberts and Brianna Tanaka were Union‚Äôs American Degree recipients this year and we are very proud of their accomplishment.¬†¬†It is the highest award given on the national level.

Star awards are given to the most outstanding chapter members at each degree level. These awards are based on leadership activities, contests, chapter involvement and on supervised agricultural experience project.¬†¬†Star Discovery Degree Recipients were Bern Anderes and Aaron Clark, Star Greenhand Degree was awarded to Garett Martens, Star Chapter degree was awarded to Daniel Colton, and the Star State Degree was awarded to Braxton Anderson.¬†¬†The chapter officers eliminated themselves from competetion on this award to recognise non-officers who are actively involved in chapter activities.

¬†Celena Hefner received the Dekalb Outstanding Senior Award.¬†¬†This award is based on scholarship, leadership activities, and the student‚Äôs supervised agriculture experience program. Celena was also awarded a $1000 Pepsi Cola of Eastern Oregon and a $1000 La Grande Legacy Ford Scholarship through the National FFA.¬†¬†Pepsi wanted the award based on the simple criteria of, ‚ÄúIt should be given to the college bound seniors have contributed most to the chapter‚Äôs success‚ÄĚ.

The seniors made a video presentations to their parents and expressed their appreciation for all that their families had done to help them be successful and get this far.¬†¬†They also expressed their appreciation to their advisor Mr. Clark for his help throughout the years.

The new chapter officers were installed; they include Shikira Yeager ‚Äď President, Cody Vanderzanden‚Äď Vice President, Brooke Stewart‚Äď Secretary, Madeline Martens‚Äď Treasurer, Bayly Poor‚Äď Reporter,¬†¬†Dani Sturm - Sentinel, Ryann Alexander-Historian, Kaleb Poor-Jr. Advisor, and Daniel Colton-Photographer.¬†¬†President Shikira Yeager then closed the banquet.¬†¬†This year‚Äôs banquet had approximately 150 people in attendance and we feel it was a great success.¬†¬†